Voices from the opposition calling for 'Lee Jun-seok inclusion'... Public opinion points to 'Yoon core group responsibility'

Various Polls Show Ruling Party Conflict 'Yoon Core Group Responsibility' Criticism
Joo Ho-young "Many Think It Would Be Resolved If Yoon Embraces Lee"
Kim Jong-in "A Leader Must Have the Generosity to Embrace"

Former Lee Jun-seok, former leader of the People Power Party./Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Ju-hee] Within the ruling party, there have been calls for President Yoon Seok-yeol to embrace former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok as a way to resolve the ongoing conflict between the two. While negative opinions persist regarding Lee’s attacks on President Yoon and the party, there appears to be a growing demand for "generous politics" to bridge the deeply entrenched rift.

On the 21st, Joo Ho-young, chairman of the emergency response committee, appeared on KBS 1TV’s "Sunday Diagnosis Live" and commented on the conflict surrounding former leader Lee, saying, "I guess many people think that since the president is the elder, embracing (Lee) would resolve the issue," adding, "Some people think this way because the incident escalated due to the president’s text message calling the former leader a 'party leader who was stabbing from within.'"

However, he also noted that the responsibility for this situation "started with the former leader Lee, who was disciplined over allegations of sexual bribery," and said, "If this situation drags on, both sides will get hurt, but the president has also been deeply wounded. My hope is that this issue will not be left to be attacked through trials until the end, but rather be resolved well through various means."

On the 19th, Rep. Cho Hae-jin also criticized Lee’s recent attacks on President Yoon during an interview on CBS Radio’s "Kim Hyun-jung’s News Show," saying, "It has gone beyond frank advice and harsh criticism intended for good," but added, "If the president embraces and pulls him in,... even if (Lee) does not respond and pushes away, I believe that a significant part of the conflict will be resolved and public sentiment will return to a normal track."

The emergence of such views within the ruling party seems to reflect awareness of criticism blaming President Yoon and the 'Yunhaekgwan' (core associates of President Yoon Seok-yeol) for the party’s internal strife. According to a poll conducted by Gallup Korea for Dailyan on the 15th and 16th targeting 1,000 adults nationwide aged 18 and older (with a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level), 60.2% of respondents chose Yunhaekgwan as "the more problematic people within the People Power Party." Meanwhile, 28.3% attributed responsibility for the party’s internal conflict to former leader Lee.

In a poll conducted by Mediatomato for Newstomato on the 16th and 17th with 1,086 respondents (margin of error ±3.0 percentage points at a 95% confidence level), 47.4% selected Yunhaekgwan as the primary target for reform compared to 24.0% who pointed to former leader Lee, while 23.7% said both Lee and Yunhaekgwan.

However, regardless of who is responsible for the internal strife, there were many negative evaluations of Lee’s recent remarks and actions. In the Gallup Korea poll, 49.1% responded that Lee is "doing wrong," which was 6.3 percentage points higher than the 42.8% who said he is "doing well." (For more detailed survey outlines and results, please refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.) Summarizing the poll results, while Lee’s recent remarks may have been excessive, the prevailing view is that the controversy surrounding President Yoon’s close associates, the Yunhaekgwan issue, is a major cause of the current situation.

In this context, former People Power Party emergency committee chairman Kim Jong-in assessed that both President Yoon and former leader Lee lack political skills. On the 20th, Kim appeared on TV Chosun’s "Strong Enemies" and said, "I believe the responsibility lies with both (President Yoon and Lee)," pointing out that "the most important thing is the lack of political ability." He added, "Why is someone a leader? They should show the ability to endure and harmonize, but that is not clearly visible. If they had worked together during the election, there should have been the generosity to embrace (Lee), but since that is missing, this strange phenomenon has emerged today."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.